Floods not as bad as 1997's but they hit at the economy's weakest moment

According to analysts, this year's floods will not have as great a negative impact on the economy as those which hit Poland back in 1997. However, at that time Poland was experiencing fast growth, which was cooled off somewhat by the disaster, while now the economy is experiencing a slowdown and cooling off is just about the last thing it needs. Maciej Grabowski, vice-president of the Gdansk Institute for Market Economy (IBnGR), says that the flood could not have come at a worse time for the economy, which has just experienced the slowest growth since the recession of the early-1990s. The 1997 floods were estimated to have curtailed economic growth by 1 percentage point, causing huge losses in infrastructure in industrialized areas of south-western Poland. This year the effects should be less dramatic, as the floods are primarily affecting rural areas, with farming only making up 6% of Poland's GDP. (Rzeczpospolita, July 28-29, p.B1) T.J.